SHRIEN Dewani today told a South African court 'I am controlling, intense and bisexual, but I did not kill my wife', after pleading not guilty to the murder of his wife on their honeymoon.

British businessman Shrien Dewani appears in the high court in Cape Town, South Africa[SWNS/GETTY]

The millionaire businessman from Weston-on-Trym, near Bristol, denied any wrongdoing during a hearing at the Western Cape High Court in South Africa today, nearly four years after his wife Anni was gunned down as the pair toured a rough neighbourhood in Cape Town.

Dewani, 34, said he did not hire three men to kill Anni on their luxury getaway to the South African city in November 2010.

Graphic footage of the crime scene and the prone body of Mrs Dewani was played to the court - which included members of both families - as the suspect admitted sexual activity with male prostitutes and a history of arguments with his wife during their 18-month romance.

The care home entrepreneur had to be extradited to South Africa to face trial against a background of lurid allegations about his private life.

Today, for the first time publicly, Dewani described himself as bisexual and explained he had an abnormal low level of hormones, which meant his chances of having children were slim.

Wearing a dark suit and with his jet black hair greying, Dewani stood and calmly addressed the court and judge Jeanette Traverso, saying: "I plead not guilty to all five counts, my lady."

Anni Dewani was killed just days after their lavish £200,000 wedding in Mumbai [PA ]

In a witness statement read by his counsel, Francois van Zyl, Dewani admitted to sexual interactions with men.

He said: "My sexual interactions with males were mostly physical experiences or email chats with people I met online or in clubs, including prostitutes."

He also recalled the final words he said to his 28-year-old wife, the last time he saw her alive as car-jackers struck during their luxury honeymoon.

Dewani's counsel, Francois van Zyl, said the trauma of the incident has affected his client's ability to remember things clearly - but insisted he was not responsible for plotting the murder.

Prosecutors argue that Dewani - who was extradited from the UK to face trial - conspired with locals Zola Tongo, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni to kill his wife.

Tongo, Qwabe and Mngeni are already serving jail terms in connection with the murder.

Reading from Dewani's hour-long witness statement, Mr van Zyl described how Dewani and his wife had been in the back of Tongo's taxi when they took a turn off the motorway into a township.

Dewani said: "The next thing I remember was banging noises coming from the front and right-hand side of the car. There was a lot of shouting in a language I did not understand.

"The next thing I recall is somebody next to me, who told me to lie down. The person had a gun in his hand.

"We were both terrified and immediately complied with his demands. I was lying half on top of Anni. Another person was behind the steering wheel. I do not know where Tongo was at that stage," he said.

The defendant said he pleaded with the attackers to let him and Anni go, but they demanded his phone.

He continued: "He searched me and found my phone in my trousers. He got angry. He placed the gun against my left ear and said words to the effect that I should not lie to him or he would shoot me.

"I heard a clicking noise from the gun which scared me even more. I have never been close to a real gun before."

Dewani's statement explained that they returned to the motorway with another driver taking control of the wheel.

He said Anni was screaming and he was ordered to keep her quiet as they drove on to another side road.

"The driver said that they were not going to hurt us, they just wanted the car and they were going to let us go separately. I begged them to let us go together," he said.

Dewani said he was ordered to leave the car with a gun to his head.

"The last thing I had said to Anni was to be quiet and not to say anything."

The next day, Dewani said his "whole world came crashing down" when he was informed that his wife had been found dead.

"The next thing I recall is that the doctor gave me some pills in my bedroom."

There were gasps heard around the courtroom as police footage of his wife's body was shown.

Dewani, wearing a black suit, white shirt and dark tie, appeared to bow his head as forensics officers were seen opening the door of the abandoned taxi, showing a bloodstained Anni dead on the back seat.

As the camera panned to the other side of the car, the court saw blood covering her ankles and feet.

Shrien Dewani has formally pleaded not guilty to murdering his new wife Anni [AP ]

Pathologist Dr Janette Verster said Mrs Dewani, who grew up in Sweden, suffered gunshot wounds to her left hand and her neck - the latter being the likely cause of death.

The fatal shot was delivered "at close range", with a suggestion that Mrs Dewani might have been grabbing on to "someone or something" at the time she died, the court heard.

Dr Verster added there was no suggestion the victim had been sexually assaulted.